DNA tests on Dali's body refute woman's paternity claim

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

MADRID (Reuters) - DNA tests on the exhumed body of Salvador Dali showed that a Spanish woman who brought a paternity suit against him was not his daughter, the surrealist painter’s foundation said on Wednesday.

The court supervising the tests had informed its lawyers that Maria Pilar Abel was not Dali’s biological daughter after comparing her DNA with samples taken from his remains, the foundation said in a statement.

A spokesman for the court declined to confirm the results of the tests.

Maria Pilar Abel, who claims to be the daughter of surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dali, attends an interview with Reuters in Madrid, Spain July 13, 2017. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Contacted by phone, Abel said she had not yet received the results from the court.

The Madrid court in June ordered forensic scientists to exhume Dali’s body after Abel, who was born in Dali’s home town of Figueres, filed a paternity claim that alleged her mother had an affair with him.

“This conclusion is not a surprise for the Foundation, since at no point has there been any evidence that she was a relative,” said the foundation, which manages Dali’s estate.

“The Foundation is happy that this puts an end to an absurd and artificial controversy.”

Dali, who died in 1989 aged 84, was one of the 20th century’s most famous and easily recognized artists. His paintings include “The Persistence of Memory”, with its iconic images of melting clocks, and he also turned his hand to movies, sculpture and advertising.

Reporting by Angus Berwick and Alba Asenjo; editing by John Stonestreet